PROVIDENCE, R.I. — It’s been no small potatoes that Rhode Islanders have been able to choose the image of Mr. Potato Head as a specialty license plate for decades.
Yet with Hasbro’s decision to move its headquarters from the smallest state in the U.S. to Boston, two lawmakers say it’s time to hash out whether Rhode Island should continue promoting one of the company’s most iconic characters.
Under the proposal introduced earlier this month, Rhode Island’s Division of Motor Vehicles would stop providing Mr. Potato Head as an option for a specialty license plate. Currently, the plate costs around $40, with half of that amount going to help support the Rhode Island Community Food Bank.
Rep. Brian Newberry, a Republican from North Smithfield, said in an email that he filed the legislation because Hasbro’s leaving the state will cause “untold economic harm and loss of tax revenue.”…